Pz-m  .  <\'v 

j\;(  <Ibe  power  of  a  Hoble  life. 

J  BY  CHARLES  A.  YOUNG. 

President  Pendleton  has  closed  his  eyes  on  earth  to 
open  them  in  heaven.  Just  one  year  before  he  fell 
‘‘asleep  in  .Jesus”  he  wrote  a  beautiful  tribute  to  the 
noble  life  of  Jphn  TL.Carv.  It  began  with  these  words; 
“Colonel  John  Bay  top  Cary  was  born  near  Hampton, 
Virginia,  October  is,  1819.  and  died  January  13,  1898,  in 
Richmond,  Va.  These  facts  have  been  noted  several 
times  before,  and  several  worthy  sketches  have  been 
given  us  of  his  life,  but  such  lives  deserve  to  be  held  up 
in  frequent  remembrance,  that  the  power  of  their  nobility 
may  brood  upon  the  face  of  our  souls  till  they  are  quick¬ 
ened  into  like  forms  of  beauty  and  manliness.”  Yes,  such 
a  noble  life  as  Col.  Cary  lived  deserves  to  be  he  hi  up  in 
frequent  remembrance,  that  the  power  of  its  nobility  may 
quicken  our  souls  into  higher,  holier  endeavor  in  serving 
the  Savior  he  loved  so  loyally  and  followed  so  faithfully. 

“Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime. 

And  departing  leave  behind  us 
Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time.” 

May  the  power  of  Col.  Cary’s  noble  life  fill  our  minds 
with  larger  visions  of  God,  duty  and  immortality,  and 
thrill  our  hearts  with  deeper  sympathy  for  struggling 
humanity,  while  we  consider  the  power  of  his  noble  life 
on  earth,  the  power  he  is  now  exercising  through  the 
lives  of  those  he  inspired  with  noble  purposes  and  the 
power  he  will  continue  to  exert  through  the  Bible  teach¬ 
ing  his  wisdom  and  generosity  fostered  at  the  University 
of  Virginia. 

The  life  of  Col.  Cary  was  extraordinary,  both  m  the 
quality  and  the  variety  of  noble  elements  which  made  it 
such  a  power  for  good. 

1.  He  had  a  noble  ancestry.— The  blood  of  a  long  line 
of  brave,  libertyloving  men  and  pious  Christian  women 
flowed  in  his  veins  and  leaped  from  his  large,  warm  heart 
to  his  active  fiinger  tips.  “He  could  not  wear  their  name 
and  hear  the  echo  of  their  fame  as  it  lived  in  the.  praise 
of  a  great  and  grateful  people,  and  not  feel  inspired  by 
their  example  to  ‘live  nobly.’ 

Colonel  Cary’s  grandfather,  for  whom  he  was  named, 
died  early  in  life,  but  his  grandmother,  whose  home  was 
with  his  father,  Col.  Gill  Armistead  Cary,  until  her  death, 
was  a  noble  type  of  the  Christian  womanhood  of  Virginia, 
“a  friend  and  connection  of  Martha  Washington,  and  a 


woman  of  marked  personality.”  Doubtless  her  Christ 
like  character  and  fervent  prayers  had  an  abiding',  though 
unconscious  influence  on  her  eldest  grandson — the  power 
of  whose  noble  life  we  are  considering.  A  great  teacher 
was  asked  by  a  thoughtful  mother:  “When  should  a 
child’s  training  begin,  to  secure  the  noblest  results  in 
character?”  His  wise  answer  was,  “A  hundred  years  be¬ 
fore  the  child  is  born.  ”  Back  of  Col.  Cary’s  noble  life 
was  a  hundred  years  and  more  of  noble  ancestry.  Par 
ents,  let  the  power  of  his  noble  life  inspire  you  to  live 
nobly,  that  your  posterity  may  “rise  up  and  call  you 
blessed,  ”  and  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Him  who  has  been 
your  guide  and  goal. 

2.  In  addition  to  a  noble,  pious  ancestry,  Col.  Cary  was 
himself  highly  gifted.  He  was  naturally  built  upon  a  no 
ble  mold,  physically,  intellectually  and  morally — brave 
and  energetic,  broad  and  deep,  high  in  his  aims  and  un¬ 
swerving  in  his  integrity.  “When  we  follow  his  life 
through  its  long  journey,  its  high  responsibilities,  its  ar¬ 
duous  labors,  its  perilous  dangers,  its,  agonizing  personal 
sufferings,  its  sad  bereavements,  and  see  him  never  fal 
tering,  never  complaining,  never  discouraged  nor  daunt¬ 
ed,  but  standing  full-breasted  against  every  foe,  and  ris¬ 
ing  ever  upward  to  his  high  mark  of  duty  and  of  service, 
who  shall  not  feel  how  nobly  he  ranks  among'  the  great 
and  good  of  the  earth?”  To  quote  President  Pendleton 
again:  “A  born  leader  from  his  youth  up,  there  was  no 
interest,  public  or  private,  (and  I  will  add  educational  or 
religious),  in  the  communities  in  which  he  lived,  where¬ 
in  there  was  good  to  be  done  or  wrong  to  be  righted,  in 
which  his  indomitable  energy,  his  strong  will-power  and 
his  love  for  his  fellow-man  were  not  conspicuous.  The 
members  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  C.  W.  B.  M. 
wTho  attended  the  National  Convention  which  met  at  In¬ 
dianapolis  in  October,  1897,  will  cherish  to  their  dying 
hour  the  memory  of  the  tall,  manly  figure,  the  noble 
bearing  and  Christian  courtesy  of  Col.  Cary,  as  he  stood 
for  the  last  time  in  our  national  councils,  pleading  for  the 
permanent  establishment  of  the  Bible  teaching  at  the 
University  of  Virginia,  and  generously  pledging  his  mor¬ 
al  and  financial  support  to  that  important  enterprise. 

Col.  W.  Gordon  McCabe,  when  accepting  a  portrait  of 
Col.  Cary,  on  behalf  of  the  R.  E.  Lee  Camp  of  Confeder¬ 
ate  Veterans,  paid  this  beautiful  tribute  to  the  variety 
and  quality  of  his  native  characteristics:  “As  a  school 
master  he  was,  in  my  deliberate  judgment,  one  of  the 
foremost,  not  only  of  his  own  time,  but  of  any  time — 
worthy  a  place  by  the  side  of  Arnold,  of  Rugby.  *  *  * 
But  though  like  Arnold  his  tastes  were  primarily  those 
of  a  scholar,  he  was  a  keen  politican,  and  a  man  of  deep 


4) 


and  uncompromising  convictions  touching  the  great  ques 
lions  which  agitate  our  country.  *  *  *  Asa  public 
spirited  citizen,  he  illustrated  in  the  activities  oi  a  stren 
uous  and  blameless  life  that  aphorism  of  a  great  English 
thinker,  that  ‘the  reward  of  one  duty  is  the  power  to  iul- 
till  another.’  Thinking  of  him— of  his  noble. gentleness, 
his  generous  sympathies,  his  high  courage,  his  Christian 
humility,  his  almost  womanly  unselfishness— I  recall  the 
lines  on  the  great  Lord  Fairfax: 

"Both  sexes’  virtues  were  in  him  combined: 

He  had  the  fierceness  of  the  manliest  mind, 

And  all  the  meekness,  too,  of  womankind. 

He  never  knew  what  envy  was.  nor  hate. 

His  soul  was  filled  witli  worth  and  honesty. 

And  with  another  thing  besides,  quite  out  of  date, 

Called  modesty.” 

The  many-sidedness  of  this  noble  life  is  one  explanation 
of  its  increasing  power. 

3  The  power  of  this  noble  life  was  augmented  by 
broad  and  liberal  culture.  Col.  Cary  had  a  line  classical 
education.  He  had  entered  William  and  Mary  College 
at  seventeen  years  of  age,  and  graduated  from  that  time- 
honored  institution,  the  Alma  Mater  of  Jefferson,  Madi¬ 
son,  Monroe  and  other  great  men,  1839.  He  kept  up  his 
classical  studies  and  read  his  Greek  New  Testament  with 
constant  delight  to  the  end  of  his  life.  But  “the  teacher 
is  doublv  taught.”  and  for  many  years  Col.  Cary  was  one 
of  the  leading  educators  of  the  South.  During  the  later 
3  ears  of  his  life  the  breadth  of  his  culture  grew  with 
t  me.  Not  only  did  many  of  the  best  papers  and  maga¬ 
zines — political,  scientific,  religious  and  literary -receive 
u,  v  irm  welcome  in  his  home  library,  but  these 
were  carefully  and  discriminately  read,  after  which 
they  v  ere  wrapped  with  his  own  hand  and  sent  to  preach¬ 
ers  an  c  other  persons.  His  broad  sympathies  brought 
him  b  contact  with  all  classes  of  people,  North  and  South. 
“In  s  cial  life  he  represented  all  that  was  best  and  finest 
in  the  civilization  of  the‘  Old  South’— a  civilization  which, 
in  its  (  hristian  piety,  respect  for  woman,  gracious  manner, 
o-ene  cus  courage  and  unfailing  courtesies  was  unique. 

,-Ancl  thus  he  bore  without  abuse 
a  he  grand  old  name  of  gentleman,” 

4.  A  noble  ancestry,  native  ability  and  broad  culture 
are  of  great  value.  But  the  power  of  this  noble  life  was 
greatly  augmented  by  the  hardships  he  endured  as  a  true 
soldier.  It  has  been  said  of  our  dear  Savior  that  “He 
wore  all  the  crowns,  even  the  crown  of  thorns.” 

“All  common  good  has  common  price, 

Exceeding  good  exceeding; 

Christ  bought  the  keys  of  paradise, 

By  cruel  bleeding.” 

3 


Every  noble  life,  like  the  perfect  life  of  the  divine  Man, 
is  raised  to  a  higher  power,  augmented  in  strength  and 
deepened  in  sympathy  by  suffering.  Col.  Cary’s  life  was 
one  long,  hard,  struggle — a  *  ‘living  sacrifice”  for  God  and 
home,  and  native  land — crowned,  at  last,  with  victorious 
success. 

His  struggles  in  life  began  early.  He  had  scarcely 
reached  man's  estate  when  his  father  died,  deeply  in¬ 
volved  in  security  debts.  This  noble  young  man  nut  only 
cared  for  his  mother  and  educated  his  younger  brotbei  s, 
but  assumed  all  liabilities  and  paid  every  dollar  of  his 
.father’s  indebtedness. 

W  hen  the  civil  war  broke  out  Col.  Cary  had  one  of  the 
most  delightful  homes,  and  was  the  head  of  one  of  the 
most  successful  schools  in  the  South.  W  hen  the  w  ar 
closed  he  was  homeless  and  penniless.  “In  lb44  file  mar¬ 
ried  Miss  Columbia  Hudgins,  and  for  seventeen  years  life 
moved  on  in  an  even  tenor  of  growth  and  success,  amidst 
the  sweet  serenity  of  books  and  study  and  domestic  hap¬ 
piness  beside  the  blue  waters  of  Hampton  Roads.  Here 
he  built  up  a  school  which  was  aptly  called  the  “Rugby 
of  the  South.”  But  the  time  that  tried  men’s  souls  was 
at  hand.  The  prosperous  and  finely  equipped  school  had 
to  be  dismissed.  The  town  of  bampton  was  situated  im¬ 
mediately  under  the  guns  of  Old  Point  Comfort,  so  it  was 
evacuated  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  war,  and  a  few 
months  later  burned  to  the  ground,  its  citizens  made 
homeless  and  penniless  wanderers,  among  them,  of  course, 
the  family  of  Col.  Cary.”  Think  of  this  heroic  man  turn¬ 
ing  from  the  ashes  of  his  home  and  fortune,  with  a  noble 
wife  and  five  children  to  support,  without  any  vindictive¬ 
ness  in  his  heart  for  the  soldiers  whose  advance  had  de¬ 
stroyed  the  fruits  of  years  of  toil,  hi  or  did  he  lose  faith 
in  God.  His  letters  during  the  war  read  like  those  of 
Stonewall  Jackson  in  their  trust  in  God.  Let  the  follow¬ 
ing  extract  from  one  of  Col.  Cary’s  letters,  written  shortly 
after  the  destruction  of  his  property,  witness  to  the 
strength  of  his  faith  and  sympathy  in  the  midst  of  his  own 
struggles  and  voluntary  separation  from  his  loved  ones: 

“On  yesterday,  in  conversation  with  a  wounded  officer 
who  was  taken  prisoner  by  one  of  our  scouting  parties,  he 
told  me  that  he  had  played  upon  my  piano;  that  it  was  in 
fine  tune,  and  a  very  fine  instrument.  Poor  fellow! 
When,  in  reply  to  a  question  from  him  how  long  he  would 
be  detained,  I  asked  him  if  he  had  a  family,  a  tear  glis¬ 
tened  in  his  eyes,  as  he  spoke  of  his  mother  and  sister. 
I  could  but  pity  him,  for  I,  too,  have  a  mother  and  wife 
and  children,  and  I  thought  of  their  anguish  if  I,  wound 
ed,  were  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  But  I  never  forget 
that  I  am  in  the  hands  of  a  merciful  Father,  and  if  it  be 

4 


His  will  that  I  should  suffer  captivity,  my  faith  will  not 
be  iu  tiie  slightest  impaired.  Oh,  hold  fast  to  that  faith, 
my  loved  ones!  It  elevates  one  so  high  above  earth  and 
earthly  things,  which,  seen  in  its  light,  vanish  into  noth 
ingness.  ” 

1  shall  not  pain  the  hearts  of  the  noble,  sympathetic 
women,  for  whom  this  sketch  of  “the  power  of  a  noble 
life”  is  written,  by  passing  in  review  the  severe  battles 
this  cultured  Christian  gentleman  had  to  fight  to  keep  the 
wolf  of  want  from  the  door  of  a  refined  family  for  years 
after  the  cruel  war  was  over.  The  vicissitudes  of  this 
part  of  his  life  would  have  broken  the  spirit  of  a  weaker 
man  utterly  “But  he  was  laid  low.  Antaeus-like,  only 
to  gather  fresh  strength  for  another  conflict.  ”  He  bided 
his  time  and  God  gave  him  the  victory.  At  fifty-eight 
years  of  age — the  age  at  which  most  men  are  losing  their 
grasp  of  practical  affairs — he  was  more  active  than  ever. 
Beginning  his  business  career  anew,  with  untiring 
energy,  an  indomitable  will,  unswerving  integrity  and, 
above  ail,  an  abiding  trust  in  God,  the  last  twenty  years 
of  his  life,  which  he  devoted  to  building  up  the  business  of 
the  Northwestern  Life  Insurance  Company  in  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina,  were  years  of  uninterrupted  success. 
He  left  a  handsome  estate,  out  of  which  Sister  Columbia 
Cary,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  her  son  and  daugh¬ 
ters,  has  given  ten  thousand  dollars  to  found  the  Uni¬ 
versity  of  Virginia  Bible  Lectureship.  ,A  hile  the  strug¬ 
gle  was  long,  the  triumph  of  the  last  twenty  years  was 
glorious. 

“The  heights  by  great  men  reached  and  kept 
Were  not  attained  by  sudden  flight; 

But  they,  while  their  campanions  slept, 

Were  toiling  upward  in  the  night.” 

5.  The  power  of  this  noble  life  was  greatly  increased 
by  his  high  regard  for  true  Christian  womanhood.  In 
later  life,  when  intimate  friends  congratulated  him  upon 
his  success,  he  would  tell  with  deep  delight  and  sincerity 
of  the  gentle  but  strong  influence  his  noble  helpmate  and 
soulmate  had  exerted  on  his  life.  She  was  the  quiet 
power  behind  the  throne  from  which  he  swayed  the 
tnoughts  and  lives  of  others.  Sister  Columbia  H.^Cary, 
who  survives  her  noble  husband,  is  still  planning  to 
widen  the  influence  of  his  life.  Dante,  in  his  divine 
comedy,  and  other  great  poets,  make  woman  the  symbol 
of  divine  guidance  in  the  way  of  salvation.  Col.  Cary  was 
led  bo  carefully  read  his  Bible  and  consider  the  claims  of 
Christ  upon  his  heart  and  life  by  the  sister  of  his  wife. 
His  regard  for  the  wisdom  and  work  of  the  Christian 
Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  is  well  known,  and  in  my  last 

5 


conversation  with  him  he  said:  “If  I  could  only  have  the 
united  support  of  the  women  of  Virginia,  I  could  soon  en¬ 
dow  a  Bible  Chair  at  our  university.”  The  power  of  his 
noble  life  is  still  guiding  the  thoughts  and  directing  the 
purposes  of  his  faithful  life-companion  and  loving  daugh 
ters.  It  still  inspires  the  Christian  women  to  greater 
efforts  in  firmly  establishing  the  important  work  of  Bible 
teaching  at  the  seats  of  our  g'reat  State  universities 

We  shall  mention  but  one  more  influence  which  entered 
vitally  into  this  noble  life,  so  rich  and  varied,  so  gentle, 
vet  so  strong,  to  make  it  a  power  for  good— His  faith  in 
God  and  his  loyalty  to  Christ.  He  was  reared  in  the 
aris'ocratic  circles  of  the  Episcopal  communion,  but 
when  he  became  a  Christian  through  independent  investi¬ 
gation,  he  took  his  stand  -a  brave  thing  to  do  in  those 
days — with  the  Disciples  of  Christ.  His  broad  culture 
and  gentlemanly  instincts  ever  made  him  courteous  to 
those  who  honestly  differed  with  him  in  the  various  de¬ 
nominations,  but  the  Restoration  movement  of  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century  had  no  truer  or  grander  representative. 
His  name  has  become  a  household  word  not  only  in  Vir¬ 
ginia,  but  throughout  the  great  brotherhood,  a  million 
strong,  he  loved  so  well  While  he  had  many  plans  for 
Christian  education  during  the  last  years  of  his  life,  he 
was  especially  interested  in  the  establishment  of  a  Bible 
Chair  at  the  University  of  Virginia.  He  was  also  the 
friend  of  every  worthy  missionary  enterprise.  In  this 
regard  the  mantle  of  this  Christ-filled  man  has  fallen  on 
his  son,  Mr.  T.  Archibald  Cary.  This  true  somof  a  noble 
father,  though  very  unassuming,  is  deeply  interested  in 
the  education  of  the  ministry,  in  foreign  missions,  the 
Bible  work  and  every  Christian  work  fostered  by  Col. 
Cary. 

In  the  home,  the  church,  the  state,  the  nation,  the 
power  of  this  noble  .life  continues  to  exert  its  Christian 
influence.  He  still  lives  in  the  lives  and  hearts  of  thoje 
he  loved. 

“He  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth!  Well  we  know 
The  form  that  lies  to  -day  beneath  the  sod 
Shall  rise  what  time  the  golden  bugles  blow. 

And  pour  their  music  through  the  courts  of  God. 

“And  there  amid  our  great  heroic  dead. 

The  war-worn  sons  of  God,  whose  work  is  done. 

His  face  shall  shine  as  they  with  stately  tread. 

In  grand  review  sweep  past  the  jasper  throne.” 

The  University  of  Virginia,  Sept.  14,  1899. 

Published  by  the  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions,  152  East 
Market  St.,  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  October,  1899.  Re-issued  Dec.  1900. 
Price,  1  cent;  10 cents  per  doz. 


6 


